hmm... the story that just got chucked out as non canon when Disney got Star Wars
was a Yuuzhan Vong invasion, Skywalker has restarted a new Jedi order, has a wife by the name Mara Jade Skywalker, and the Skywalker and Solo clans have grown with a whole bunch of younglings, which would have worked great for the young adult market. This fits in with the timeline perfectly, 30 years after after ROTJ, which is about when TFA is placed. The emperor is not really dead, or is reborn, any way you look at it (there is a hint of this in Episode III). Before the transfer of property and the announcement of the sequel trilogy, this is the story that most fans would have wanted and expected from the franchise.
But the new one, Jedi seem to have a downplayed role, we know there will be a Millenium Falcon, that automatically means Han and Chewie. It has to be the story of a Skywalker, for the whole series to make sense, though there are going to be spin off movies. Whole bunch of new chars, so expect Jedi remnants, maybe Sith, Some storm troopers, some loyalists to both factions, bounty hunters, the trade federation and people looking after their own planets/ interests in the mix. After caesar, gollum and king kong, Andy Serkis is bound to be some species of motion capture primate.
Pretty sure there will be lots of points in common with Star Wars Rebels